


toy shop

by ziallshire



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Beanie Zayn, Christmas, Christmas Presents, Cute, Fluff, Glasses!Zayn, M/M, Zayn in Glasses, minor larry stylinson, not sex toys you nasty, toy shop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-26
Updated: 2013-12-26
Packaged: 2018-01-05 15:46:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1095769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ziallshire/pseuds/ziallshire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zayn Malik is not one to be seen at a toy shop at 9:00 in the morning on a Saturday. But when you get the "urgent" call from your best friend, who happens to be Louis Tomlinson, to go to the toy shop to pick up presents for Lou's family and his family, you can sacrifice a sleep-in.  </p><p>Or where Zayn has to go out shopping for presents and Liam is the 'Elf' helping him check out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	toy shop

**Author's Note:**

> this started out as a drabble then i got caught up in it and i know it's still short but
> 
> ok sorry just enjoy

Zayn Malik is not one to be seen at a toy shop at 9:00 in the morning on a Saturday. But when you get the "urgent" call from your best friend, who happens to be Louis Tomlinson, to go to the toy shop to pick up presents for Lou's family and his family, you can sacrifice a sleep-in. 

So Zayn tiredly fixed his glasses on and tried to style his hair in the best quiff he could. (Which ended up not working out so he stuck a beanie on it). He quickly brushed his teeth while sending out a text message to Louis, 'dont worry, u prat. i got this. x Z', then rushing down the stairs to pour his /early/ morning cup of coffee.

People always thought of Zayn as "moody" or a "bad boy". But Zayn is probably the least "bad boy" guy around. Unless you count a major comic book enthusiast and a geeky artist with bad vision a Bad Ass. People just assume because of the fact Zayn smokes or sometimes wears black (okay, maybe almost all the time he does.) If it were up to Zayn, Niall would probably more of a bad ass. But this isn't a competition and Zayn kinda wants to get this toy shopping over with so he can go back to sleep.

Zayn walks out of his car into the icy cold air and immediately regrets only wearing a grey jumper and skinnies. He can practically see his breath in front of him and hes genuinely pondering if he should run back home and get something warmer. Then he's realizing he won't even be outside for the majority of the time he's gone from the flat. The toy shop is most likely heated, anyways, And with that thought, Zayn carefully runs up to the door, carefully so he wont slip on anything, and yanks the door open, revealing a loud ding from the bell at the top of the door.

A cheery purple haired girl in an elf costume looks at Zayn and smiles before greeting herself. "Hi! Welcome to the Toy Shop. I'm Perrie. Do you need any help or are looking for anything specific?" Zayn is secretly betting with himself that it's part of her job to memorize those words. "Um, nah-no thanks." He tries to give a warm smile but he's so tried it just comes out as a sleepy grin. She nods and let's him know if he does, she can help before skipping of to a boy with a small brown quiff. 

Zayn looks around the store and really doesn't know what he's supposed to get Waliyah or Safaa. How the hell did Louis expect him to know what Lottie and Fizzy and the twins wanted if he didn't know what his own sisters wanted? 

So he called up Louis in the middle of the 'Boys action figures' section and looked at the few super hero figures they had supplied while the phone rang. "Hello? Zayn?" Zayn could tell Louis was in a panicked mood. "Louis what am I even here to get? I don't even know what my own sisters want!" Zayn looks at the price of Batman figure before putting them in his basket. "I have a list of what to get my sisters. Hold on..." Zayn can hear rustling through the phone before he hears what sounds like Louis picking up the phone again.  
"Right, okay. Lottie wants a new hair curler, I'm not sure. Fizzy wants a.." and Louis goes on as Zayn writes these things down.

"Thanks, Lou." Zayn says. "No, mate. Thank you." And then Zayn hangs up.

Zayn gathers all of Louis' sister's gifts and decides he'll come back for his own sisters'. He goes over to where the purple haired girl in the elf costume is and places the Tomlinson sisters' (and his own) toys on the conveyor belt. Perrie stops the toys from moving and smiles at Zayn. "I'm on my break but my friend here Liam will be glad to help you out." She then smiles at the boy with the brown quiff and throws him a wink. While 'Liam' looks absolutely flushed and semi panicked. 

"Um, oh yea, I'm Liam." Says the boy and Zayn can't help but think he looks adorable in an elf costume. "Hello, Liam." Zayn says and Liam rings up his toys. 

"A Batman figure?" Liam says while scanning the price. "Yea, uh, why?" Zayn blushes, clearly embarrassed. "Just does't match with the rest of your item, s'all" Liam mumbles. Zayn nods and is still blushing. Liam continues ringing up his things and then says, "I love batman," with a smile on his face. Zayn smiles too. "He's great, yea?" Zayn really doesn't want to admit how cute this brown eyed boy is as much as he doesn't want to admit how much of a geek he is about batman.

" Technically, Batman could really exist. There are a few flaws in how he’s portrayed that would need to be reconsidered. Like, when Batman wins, he usually takes a good beating to himself. Yet, the next night he’s out there all over again. There’s never any recuperation time for the guy." Liam gushes. Now Zayn has a genuinely warm smile on his face and he's absolutely endeared with the boy before him. Liam shakes his head. "That much physical abuse would really backfire on him. Not to mention how messed up his sleeping patterns would be from being up all night and sometimes in the day. It must suck in away. Wouldn't last too long in reality, yea?" Liam looks back up at Zayn, smiling and flushed. 

Zayn has his head propped up on the counter with his arm and he's smiling absently. Liam smiles back and Zayn can't take his eyes off of Liam. The way he talks so fluently about the things he loves and just the smile on his face is so...real.

Zayn snaps himself out of it and takes out his wallet when another man comes from the register next to Liam's. "Payne! Quit your flirting and get to work! You knob." the man (also in an elf costume, with tights possibly way too tight for him, Zayn thinks as he cringes in his head.) "Sorry, Nick, but I wasn't-." "Work." Nick says and switches shifts with another worker. 

"That'll be 42.50 pounds, mate." mumbles Liam as he hands Zayn the bag of toys. Zayn takes out /Louis'/ card and swipes it. Liam rips his recipe out of the register and hands it to Zayn. Zayn smiles, because Liam's embarrassment is the cutest thing ever, and Liam smiles back. "Have a good day, Liam." Zayn says ans he grabs his things and heads out of the door. "You too." Liam says.

~o~

"You didn't get your sisters' gift," Louis frowned as Zayn walked through the door with the bag of toys. "Goin' back tomorrow." Zayn mumbles through a smile. 

"You met someone." Louis lean against the wall and smiles. Zayn plops himself on their couch and flickers through the television. He shrugs and settles for some reality show about american models. Louis lets out a little 'hmmph' and gets up from his spot on the wall. Zayn's view of the television is now being blocked by a flustered Lou with his arms crossed. "You aren't as great of a window as you think you are, Louis."

"Zayn." Louis sounds annoyed that Zayn is ignoring him. Zayn is smiling at this point. "Yes, Lou?" "Who is he?" Zayn smiles even wider thinking about Liam. "Met him at the toy shop." Zayn says smiling and fidgeting with his hands. "Tell me about him." Louis shuts the television off and takes a seat next to Zayn. And so Zayn does tell him.

"He's got the cutest and biggest brown eyes ever, Louis." Zayn is smiling so hard that Louis is sure it'll splint in two. "And his smile is so cute. His eyes scrunch up and he looks so warm and it's adorable. Oh my god, Louis. He was wearing tights. Tights, Lou. Oh, and he loves batman. Told me 'bout him. And he's just so-perfect." Zayn sounds so excited when he's talking about Liam. Louis pats Zayn on the shoulder and sighs. 

"Young Love." Louis shakes his head as he gets up to make some food. "Is Harry coming over for dinner?" Zayn turns his body in the couch so he's facing the kitchen to talk to Louis. Louis let's out a small groan. "Nope. He's got to work Niall's shift at the pub." Louis has a small frown on his face. "Young Love." Zayn mocks. 

"You gonna talk to that boy tomorrow?" Louis fixes himself a sand which and a glass of wine and walks back over to the couch. "'Course! I can't let him go, man. Perfect, I tell you." Zayn steals a bite out of Louis' sand which and Louis nods. "Good. Get his number, mate. Bring him over. Date him. Hell, have sex with him and put a ring on that. Don't care. Just want you to be happy." Louis shakes Zayn's shoulder again.

These are the times Zayn is glad to have Louis as his best friend. Louis can be an absolute goof when he wanted to, but he sure as hell can make a good cup of tea and cheer Zayn up in the worst situations. Even when Zayn lost his job last winter and couldn't find another. Louis made sure they had extra pizza and ice cream stored in the fridge, along with magazine ads for local business in need of emploment.

Zayn laughed and the two lie sprawled out onto the couch watching Cake Boss and throwing pieces of bread at each other.

~o~

Zayn walked into the toy shop again the next morning, setting off that same bell. When he'd arrived, Liam wasn't at the register. Zayn continued down the store's isles, thinking it was juts Liam's break. He picked out some 'Hair & Makeup Kit' and a CD for Waliyha and some sort of doll that came with a movie that Safaa has been raving about.

Zayn wandered around for a bit to waste a little time. His hands were a bit shakey and his stomach aching with nerves as he shook away the thought of embarrassing himself in front of Liam.  
After ten minutes being wasted in the music section, in which he decided he'd buy the Arctic Monkeys CD, he figures he should check out. Zayn head back up to the front to go pay but find that Liam still isn't there. Panic shoots through Zayn as the thought of Liam avoiding him flood his head. Then he sees the purple haired girl, Perrie, from yesterday.

"You're back." She raises an eyebrow. "Um, yea. Had to gift shop for my siblings, ya'know?" Perrie only slowly nods and turns a little to her left. "I'll go get Liam." She sighs with a smile. "Alright-wait what?" Zayn grabs her arm before she can leave. "Oh, shut up,. Just trust me. I know you two like each other." Perrie says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. Zayn just stares at her, so she turns to the 'Employees Only' office. Zayns stands by another cash register waiting until a certain girl and an even greater boy walks out that door towards Zayn.

Liam smiles over at Zayn. Zayn can't help it, but he blushes and bows his head to hide it. Zayn can hear a kind of hopeless sigh coming from Perrie and can only imagine that she's rolling her eyes. Perrie's heels click past Zayn as she unlocks Liam's cashier station. As Zayn watches Liam pass towards his station, Liam sends Zayn a wink and Zayn can't help but to think "When did he get all cheeky?" Zayn places his basket on the table to put his items on the conveyor belt and he tries to ignore the nerves bustling in his stomach. 

Perrie kinda slaps Liam on the shoulder because Liam keeps staring at Zayn while he puts up his things and she mutters something in Liam's ear.  
"Oh, I-Um, Everything is 50% off today, by the way." Liam says and Perrie nods approvingly. "Oh really?" Zayn perks up because, hey that's less money for him to spend. Perrie whispers something in Liam's ear again and Liam's eyebrows furrow as he nods. Zayn just makes a mental note that Liam's concentration face is the cutest thing ever.

"Yea, for you it is." Then a discreet nudge from Perrie. "I mean, you should know that you're getting the discount because that would suck if you didn't and had to pay full price." Then Perrie rolls her eyes /again/ and face palms herself.

Zayn grins anyways. He slowly nods because he's not stupid and he can catch on to what the plan was going to be. He hears Perrie mutter a "hopeless." and she's off towards the other worker, Nick. "I'm sorry." Liam apologizes as he rings up Zayn's CD. "It's cool." ('Try to play the cool guy act, Zayn. You can do it.') "I didn't catch your name yesterday," Liam says and Zayn thinks Liam might just like Zayn, too.

Zayn digs for his wallet and pulls out his card. "Zayn." he says while swiping his card. "That's a beautiful name." Liam comments. "It means beautiful in Aracbic," Zayn smiles. "Suits you." Liam blushes while saying that. But Zayn should be the one blushing. Liam just called him beautiful and Zayn is literally trying not to say, "Really, because you look like you were sculpted by Jesus." because how lame is that?

So he sides with just smiling. Liam hands him his recipe and smiles back. Zayn turns to leave when Liam calls him. "Yea?" "Could I maybe, see you again some time?" And Liam sounds so small while saying this cause he's just so shy but Zayn says "Of course." which makes them both happy never the less.

~o~

They see each other the following Saturday at Zayn and Louis' flat. Zayn and Liam are tangled together on the couch watching one of the Fast & The Furious movies. Louis and Harry are there, too, but they're too busy arguing over what take out they should order. "Oi! Shut up!" Zayn calls from the couch. Louis calls back out at Zayn that he's a twat and they settle for some Asian take out.

"I'm glad you actually get to see me with out that ridiculous costume on." Liam says while tucked under Zayn's shoulder. Zayn laughs and kisses Liam's hair.

They continue to see each other day after day and they're nearly inseparable. Zayn is so happy that he sacrificed his sleep for Louis in the long run.  
.


End file.
